... to decide home field advantage in the playoffs.
... to determine the viability of Giancarlo Stanton, Luis Severino, Dellin Betances, Jordan Montgomery, J.A. Happ, Edwin Encarnacion and Gary Sanchez. (And, let's face it: CC Sabathia.)
... to find an opening game starter. (Looks like Paxton, but whomever is hot is front-runner.)
... to set a healthy bullpen. (Translation: To reset El Chapo.)
... to decide our first round opponent. (Right now, it'd be the winner between Oakland-Tampa.)
... to decide who bats third. (LeMahieu, Judge and... humina-humina-humina...?)
... to decide who's on first. (LeMahieu? Voit? Encarnacion? Even Ford - over the last month: .346 - in a platoon?)
... to decide who plays left field. (Maybin? Red Menace? Stanton?)
... to decide if we'll carry a pinch runner. (Wade or Maybin?)
... to get Didi on a roll. (Over last 30 days, hitting .207.)
... to stay healthy. (Has there been an 11-game stretch this season in which at least one starter didn't go down? Somebody will get hurt.)
Eleven games...
Three at home vs. the Angels. Three at home vs the Jays. Two in Tampa. Three in Texas. (We need five out of six at home, split in Tampa, sweep in Texas.)
Houston plays two vs the Rangers at home. Three vs. the Angels at home. Two in Seattle. Four in Los Angeles. (Let's hope for bad blood with Angels, which carries into final weekend.)
Thirteen days and nights...
Eddie Money... Ric Ocasek... who's next?
Will we be at war?
Where will the next hurricane hit?
Two more humiliating losses by Giants, with still no plan to bench Eli.
What celebrity will Trump be screaming at?
What will be happening in Taylor Swift's life?
Eleven games...
As NY Post sportswriter Bill Blake once put it:
William Blake
To see a World in a Grain of SandAnd a Heaven in a Wild Flower,Hold Infinity in the palm of your handAnd Eternity in an hour.
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24 comments:
So endeth the JuJu.
But it's, like, eleven.
I have a feeling Nestor is headed for bag o' beans land. I really like that the guy throws a mix of sub-flame pitches, but either he's missing too many spots or the scouting reports have caught up to him fast.
Monty will be fine. Betances should be fine. Sevvy might be fine. They'll all probably be in the pen for the postseason, except Sevvy may be a tandem semi-opener with a broken down CC or other.
Stanton, though. That scares me.
First some good news. Holder to 60 day DL. Gone through at least the first round.
Now to the excellent set of questions posed by Mr. Duque. (Don’t worry I’m not doing them all.)
1) “to decide home field advantage in the playoffs.”
The best team in the AL right now is the Oakland A’s.
They can beat Houston.
We need to land in the sweet spot, defined as one game behind Houston for best record in the AL and one game ahead of the Dodgers.
That way…
We have home field against Minn.
Oakland knocks off Houston.
We have home field against Oakland.
We have home field against LA.
But Doug, you say, if Houston beats Oakland will lose to them.
To you I say, maybe so but Oakland has handled Houston all year. They are the two most dangerous teams. Let’s get rid of one of them at the get go.
2) to find an opening game starter.
Gotta be Paxton right? Unless it’s Domingo because he’s so much better at home. But right now Doningo is slated to pitch as part of a CC tandem. (That’s bad)
I’d go. Paxton, Tanaka, Happ… and not even use CC at all. (and only have Tanaka go <4 and stick Domingo there). That seems weird but somehow it makes sense to me. Tanaka’s bad inning is generally the 4th or 5th. I forgot about Sevi. I guess we'll have to see.
3) Sanchez -- Who do you trust more with a guy in scoring position Romine or Sanchez? Don’t bother to answer. Anyway, Sanchez back in round two right?
4) ... to decide who's on first. (Only if Stanton – Fails to tweak again right? Because other wise Luke is the DH and LeMahieu is the 1B)
Last…
5) Same as above if Stanton doesn’t tweak and can play left. Can’t put the Red Menace in left. Not in the playoffs. He may be the outfield version of Chuck Knoblauch. BTW as a side note. For some reason I couldn’t remember Knoblauch’s name and so I Googled the following
“Yankee 2nd baseman throwing errors minnesota” 1st result.
Doug K.
Stanton has 6 games to pull it together. If he sucks at home, he'll suck at home through the playoffs.
And be booed mercilessly.
If he hits at home, he'll be fan favorite.
The clubhouse needs to be a happy place when the playoffs start. That's on Boner.
Oh, and here's another off-day theater suggestion:
https://twitter.com/Carchia/status/1171066048205901826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1171067420905070592&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.12up.com%2Fposts%2Fvideo-announcer-during-usa-brazil-fiba-game-fell-silent-when-cameras-cut-to-stunning-female-fan-01dmbkkmeyna
@Rufus "I, uh, I've gotta go home and see what the wife's doing."
Um..er..uh...
If you need the antidote, some Babe Ruth videos here:
http://www.thedeadballera.com/VideoVault.html
I'm betting that Stanton will tweak something—possibly before ever appearing in another game—and be out for the season. Also, I have some weird, irrational premonition that he will NEVER play for the Yanks again.
Don't know what to attribute this to—wishful thinking?—but remember: you heard it here first.
It's all well and good to talk about the playoffs—and by the way, ARE there any playoffs excursion plans? I would be up for that—but let's keep our eyes on the ball:
—Get to 300 homers first, and beat out Minny for the record.
—Nail down that record-breaking 100th win.
—Clinch the division.
Those are the big, epic goals that we can meet. We won't beat Houston in the playoffs. Nobody will.
Never say never, Mr. Bond.
Yes, Mr. Bean.
Hoss, you talking the stadium or road trip?
I was thinking at Yankee Stadium. Though I understand that it may already be too late. Because, you know, it's not like the Stadium Formerly Known as Shea.
Hoss,
" We won't beat Houston in the playoffs. Nobody will."
I'm not so sure...
The A's in the last 30 days
6-2 vs. Houston
4-2 vs. Yankees
0-2 SF (Bay series but still WTF,)
3-1 KC
3-0 Angels
3-0 Tigers
Scary.
Doug K.
Forgot 3-0 vs. Texas
Doug K.
Didn't Oakland go an a similar tear at the close of last season?
Then this happened:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex9wjJgkSp0
Platoni,
That is right, but we want them to win right up to the time they face the Yankees.
Rufus,
Exactly! Let them take out Tampa and Houston.
Doug K.
Rufus....I didn't know Shakira was a fan of international basketball.
Although I don't know how to speak or understand Portuguese, the announcer seemed to keep on talking the entire time and held his poise. Unlike Brent Muffburger's gawking at Miss Alabama, he didn't seem to perve on her.
Carl,
I have taken a new interest in otherwise boring international basketball.
And the only reason I would watch college football is the off the field scenery, be it girlfriends or cheerleaders. I went to a Florida Gators game years ago (pre-Tebow). It was very enjoyable to watch, if you know what I mean. Kinda like a Braves home game.
I am all for playing Minnesota first, it's true. But nobody is beating Houston.
Meanwhile,
Karma or her sister has punished Dave Martinez for asking for a strike call on the pitch that hit Charlie Culberson in the face:
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27631822/nationals-manager-martinez-heart-procedure
Coincidence it was a day after his slimeball move? Or just good luck?
FWIW, I am not pulling for either team. Although it would be nice to see the Yankees beat them in the WS again.
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